It took us a while to get back to the house, seeing as we were walking and not running. Alant and Swift sat/lay on my shoulders and arms. Alant had fallen asleep in my crossed arms. Mean while, Swift sat on my shoulder and chatted happily.

Nuri and Nova padded on either side of me. Occasionally, their pelts brushed me.

And soon, we made it to the house. I shifted Alant to one of my arms, where he stirred sleepily, and rang the doorbell.

And who answered it? Max. "Oh, hi Spark," she said, "Why'd you-" She broke off as she saw my friends. All of them. "WHAT THE HECK?!"

"Hi Max. This is Nuri, and that's Nova. I told you about them," I began, waving my hand towards the two pumas on either side of me. "This is Alant, and that's his sister Swift." I gestured toward the last two.

Max's face became the oddest mixture of "Awww…" when she saw the kits, anger, shock, a tad of fear, stress, and a lot of confusion. It was a very funny face.

Alant woke fully up now, and he looked at me and Max confusedly. "Who's that?" he asked.

"That's Max. She's the leader of my pack."

"Flock, more like it," muttered Nuri.

Alant blinked at Max. "Hi, Max."

I translated for him. "He says hi."

Smiling slightly, Max waved. I then noticed that Swift was no longer on my shoulder. She was padding towards Max. "Hey, Max! I'm Swift, and I'm the awesome one."

Max bent down to pick her up. I said, "Swift says hi, she's Swift, and she's the awesome one." Max laughed.

Thudding sounds alerted us to Nudge and Gazzy running over. "Max, what's going- THEY'RE SO CUTE!!!" Guess. I dare you to.

Nudge ran over and scooped up Alant. He looked surprised. Poor kit.

Gazzy asked, "Are these your friends, Spark?"

"Yeah."

And then, Dr. Martinez and Angel came. "What's going on?" Dr. Martinez stopped when she saw all of us, including the pumas.

Angel crouched down to stroke Nuri's ear. "They're friendly, Dr. Martinez. These are Spark's adopted parents, pretty much."

After Fang, Iggy, Total, and Aikla were introduced to my 'family', I brought them to my room. They'll be staying for a few days.

So, several hours after we got settled, I learned that everyone knew about Max's declaration of a random mass birthday on Saturday. Dr. Martinez was going to take me, Angel, and Iggy out shopping.

I questioned Max about the sudden statement of a party. She simply shook her head, saying, "Well, the rest of us were in the kitchen, when I asked if they want to go back to school. We haven't had much, you see."

"Neither have I. Continue."

"…They weren't exactly enthusiastic. So, to stop them from arguing with me, because I was trying to convince them to go, I declared a birthday. That sound good?"

"Yes." It made perfect sense.

And then we left. At least, after we'd had a big enough lunch to feed the army. And I had been successfully disguised.

Nudge had smoothed my spiky hair down a bit on the sides, so it wouldn't show my lack of human ears. It looked quite natural, too, and Dr. Martinez managed to find a bandana that would cover my ears when they were flattened. My tail and wings were easy to hide.

On the way to wherever we were going (we were in a car), I wondered about what I'd get for everyone. I shall start with… Angel.

Ooh! She'd probably like a sketchbook. I could get a set of pencils to go with it. She's creative and she sees the world around her in more detail than most.

As for her brother… One of those Nerf gun things. It looked like a Gazzy-ish kind of toy.

Nudge is easy. She'd already told me how she wants to go into fashion. I could get her a sketchbook like Angel, and a book telling a bit on how to design clothes.

Iggy… maybe an MP3 player or something. It could be a cheap one.

I think that Fang would like… uh… a notebook, so he could write while on the go when he doesn't have his precious laptop. He didn't in Africa, and I heard him complaining about it to Max.

Max's perfect gift? A hatchet! But I don't think you can buy those where were headed… WAIT! I think I saw something earlier… It was a really pretty rock… It was silvery and streaked through with blue and green. Perfect. Pretty, and it can be used as a weapon. Bonus!

____________several hours later_____________________

Well, Dr. Martinez was taking Nudge, Fang, Max, and Gazzy out, so I was wrapping presents. I had already found that pretty rock, and this was what I was finishing wrapping right now.

Satisfied, I crammed the presents under the bed, out of sight. Then I opened my window and jumped out of it. I flared my wings slightly to slow me down enough to land.

I turned and dashed into the forest. Along with finding the pretty rock earlier, I thought Id heard something. I was going to check it out now.

I brushed some ferns aside, and heard the sound. It sounded like a deer's voice. How did I know it was a deer? Well, certain species of animals have very distinctive voices. For example, a camel's voice sounded a bit brusque and rough. A cat's was smooth and soft. A deer was quiet.

And this was what I heard now.

I followed the sound, and found a small deer. It was a female, and she was laying on her side, alone, with her left leg held awkwardly out.

"Great Freespirit," I muttered looking at her. The leg was probably broken… So, after a quick talk that confirmed that she had broken her leg and her herd had abandoned her, I lifted her up onto my shoulder. She was a fairly young, small deer.

And I took another animal home. This time, I opened the door by myself, and headed upstairs. Fang caught me as I was turning towards my room. "Is that a deer?"

I spun around, careful not to whack the doe's head on the wall. "Yup. Her name's Fransisca, and she broke her leg. I'm going to heal her up." And with that, I walked into my room.

All the pumas were there. I placed Fransisca the deer down, and looked at the pumas who were eyeing her hungrily. "This is Fransisca. She is not food. Eat her, and bad things will happen."

With that, the mountain lions nodded and turned away.

I dashed downstairs to get a pair of long, straight sticks, some ace bandages, and a bowl of water. I got the needed items, and dashed back. I found Max, Fang, and Nudge sitting in my room looking at the doe. I realized a bit too late that they must have returned from the store.

"Spark… Why is there a deer in your room?" asked Max gently.

"Her name's Fransisca, and she broke her leg. I'm going to heal her so she can live," I said bluntly, and settled down to bind up the leg and set it straight. I gave the doe some water.

Max and Fang got up and left without another comment, but Nudge stayed and watched me.

And so, Spark's Animal Rescue Center began…